Body of missing hiker found in Superstitions

Searchers have found the body of a hiker missing in the Superstition Mountains since Monday.

Members of the Superstition Search and Rescue team of the Apache Junction Police Department found the body of Christopher Hensley in a canyon south of Siphon Draw Trail in the Superstition Wilderness Area of the Tonto National Forest shortly after noon and alerted the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

A search had been underway since Monday afternoon for the 34-year-old Hensley, who left a family member’s house in Apache Junction Monday afternoon to hike in the wilderness area.

Tamra Ingersoll of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said Hensley had recently moved to Arizona and was not familiar with the area and did not tell his family where in the park he planned to hike.

The body was found in a rugged area that prevented a helicopter from landing, so members of the Pinal County Search and Rescue team were hiking into the canyon area to retrieve the body, according to Tim Gaffney of the sheriff’s office.